‘Fable 4 art test’ appears online

What’s claimed to be a concept art test for Playground Games‘ unannounced Fable project has appeared online.

The test, which was quickly deleted from the artist’s ArtStation page (and captured by Resetera), shows a female protagonist and a 16^th century Europe-inspired setting.

[UPDATE: The artwork referenced in this story have been removed at the request of the artist]

The artwork is by freelance concept artist Rodrigo Idalino and is possibly not indicative of the visual direction for Playground’s Fable, but it does offer further credence to the project’s existence.

Although Playground remains extremely secretive about its Fable project, the studio has been actively hiring for the game’s development team for the past three years.

So far it’s snapped up Anthem’s lead environment artist, Ghost Recon Wildlands’ lead character artist, Hellblade’s lead animator, Metal Gear Solid V’s project manager and more.

It’s also hired a number of Rocksteady Games’ Arkham Knight scriptwriting team for the project.

In total, around 200 people are understood to be working on the game at Playground’s new Leamington Spa studio.

Xbox parent Microsoft announced it had acquired Playground in June 2018, following the release of several successful Forza Horizon titles.

Xbox head Phil Spencer suggested in June that the platform holder won’t be rushed into an announcement for Fable.

He told Kotaku: “I love that Fable came to [Xbox One backwards compatibility]. I want to make sure that when we talk about things to come, whether it’s Fable or not, that the team feels very solid about what they are doing.”